CHALLENGES OF PRECISION AGRICULTURECHALLENGES OF PRECISION AGRICULTUREIN THE PHILIPPINESIN THE PHILIPPINES

Brenda S. TubanaBrenda S. Tubana

OVERVIEW Products of precision agriculture Philippines: Information and basic statistics Agriculture in the Philippines Problems in Philippine Agriculture Challenges and Strategies Conclusion

Products of Precision Agriculture To increase production

Products of Precision Agriculture To decrease environmental and human life risk

                                      

The Philippines

Location: Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Phil. Sea and the south China Sea

Information and basic figures The Philippines is an

archipelago of some 7100 islands

Total land area: 298,170 sq km, slight larger than Arizona

Climate: tropical marine Population: 80 million The population is predominantly

rural (57%), with 43% living in urban areas. Employment in the agricultural sector accounts for 44% of the 24-million-person labor force.

Resources

RICH LANDRICH LAND

LABORLABOR

FAVORABLE CLIMATEFAVORABLE CLIMATE

ON-GOING RESEARCHON-GOING RESEARCH

Agriculture in the Philippines Of the total 30 million ha, 13 million hectares are devoted to

agricultural crops food grain (31%), food crops (52%) and non-food crops (17%)

Agriculture in the Philippines

It is the cornerstone of the country’s economy

It employs 40% of the active population of the country (11.9 million in 1999).

Majority of the farmers use simple tools and draught animals.

                                                                                                                          

Problems in Philippine Agriculture Lack of technical

expertise knowledge and technology

Landlessness Most farms are very

small Low and decreasing

investment in system maintenance

Philippines : Low-Income Food-Deficit Country

One-third (29.6%) of the children in the Philippines are malnourished

50 % of these children are under three years old

8.4% are below the age of six years (1.1 million)

7 % are 7-10 year old schoolers (465,000)

POVERTY POVERTY

LACK OF BUYING POWERLACK OF BUYING POWER

Challenges and Strategies: 1. Reduce yield gaps and increase profit

Factor Strategies Implication

Crop Establishment Manual to machine transplanting; direct seeding

Reduced labor, improved timeliness

Water Management Less-available water-Better maintenance of irrigation & drainage structure; shifts to low water levels

Less water use, more area irrigated, higher water use efficiency

Nutrient management

From blanket to site-specific, need-based nutrient management

Less fertilizer cost, same or higher yield, better quality water and soil

Grain quality Manual to mechanical post-production operation

Timeliness, better grain quality, higher price and profitability

Reduce yield gap and increase profit It is an approach to

feeding rice with nutrients as and when needed

The application and management of nutrients are dynamically adjusted to crop needs of the location and season.

Site-Specific Nutrient ManagementSite-Specific Nutrient Management

Techniques to match crop needs

Leaf color chart for N

Nutrient Omission for P and K

Improving Land preparation

                                                                                                                       

                                                             

Laser Leveling

Draft Animal

Reduction in time and water required to irrigate the field

Challenges and Strategies2. Bridge knowledge gap and improve technical support

Integrate indigenous knowledge and scientists’ technical knowledge to enhance mutual learning.

Technology delivery system should be reoriented.

Continuous farmer education (FFS – farmer field school and FPR – farmer participatory research)

Effective communication technology Institutional/policy support

Table 1. Mean rice yields and area in 1999.

Country/Region Area‘000 ha

Yieldt ha-1

Yield%

Australia 140 10.1 -

Asia 138,503 3.9 61.4

Philippines 3,978 (6.3)*2.9 71.3

USA 1,442 6.6 34.5

World 155,128 3.8 62.4* Potential rice yield

Table 2. Mean fertilizer inputs and rice yields in on-farm research trials, farmer cooperators’ field, and non-cooperators’ fields in Central Luzon, Philippines in 1996-97.

Particulars No. of Farms

Mean NPK

Kg ha-1

Yield

t ha-1

Yield Gap

%

1996 Wet Season (July to October)

On-farm trials 17 61-20-26 4.16 (1.01) --Farmer Cooperators 28 102-16-23 3.96 (1.31) 4.8Farmer non cooperators 39 117-7-11 3.56 (0.83) 14.4

1997 Dry Season ( January to April)

On-farm trials 17 94-12-31 6.92 (0.90) --Farmer Cooperators 28 130-11-27 6.52 (1.02) 5.8Farmer non cooperators 39 145-7-13 4.25 (1.23) 38.6

Conclusion Economic and environmental benefit of precision

agriculture should be brought into the knowledge of the farmers to achieve impact on productivity and profitability.

References http://www.public.iastate.edu/ ~cfford/342Myth5.htm http://www.unesco.org/courier/2001_01/uk/doss24.htm http://countrystudies.us/philippines/62.htm http://www.gisdevelopment.net/application/agriculture/overview/mi03127pf.htm http://www.photius.com/wfb/wfb1999/philippines/philippines_economy.html http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/seta/2002/02/21/stories/2002022100280400.htm http://www.robot.cs.kobe-u.ac.jp/~botond/ pictures/philip.. http://www.neptunediving.com/.../ about/philippines.php. http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/ssnm/default.htm http://www.tropentag.de/2002/proceedings/node102.html

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